Title: Design and Development of an IoT-GIS-Based Smart Water Infrastructure Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance System for Water Utilities in Tanzania
Authors: SAMWEL Y. MWAKALINGA, KARIMU H. KATUNDU
Volume: 10
Issue: 8
Pages: 42-47
Publication Date: 2026/08/28
Abstract:
Tanzania's water utilities are expanding and rehabiltating piped infrastructure under the Water Sector Development Programme Phase III, yet Non-Revenue Water (NRW) has continued to rise, reaching 42.3% in FY 2024/25 from 36.8% in FY 2023/24 according to the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA), against a national target of 20% [2], [3], [4]. Digital tools already exist in the sector Maji IS for billing and meter reading, isolated GIS and SCADA deployments, JICA-supported pilots, and academic geodatabase studies but this paper's review finds that real-time sensing, spatial infrastructure data, anomaly detection, and maintenance-decision workflows remain fragmented across separate tools rather than operating as one platform. This paper develops the research foundation for an integrated Internet of Things (IoT) and Geographic Information System (GIS) based smart water infrastructure monitoring and predictive maintenance platform for Tanzanian Water Supply and Sanitation Authorities (WSSAs). It situates the proposed system against the documented technology landscape, establishes an evidence-based problem statement and research gap, and proposes a layered architecture sensing, communication, data, analytics, application and maintenance-management together with a realistic, low-cost technology stack, a scoped pilot design, and a measurable evaluation framework. The intended contribution is a complementary integration layer that connects existing Tanzanian systems rather than a replacement for them, to support faster fault localization and more proactive infrastructure maintenance.